271427 Examining Disparities in Low Birthweight throughout Counties in the United States

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Erika Rose Cheng, MPA , Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Anne Roubal, MS , Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Bridget Booske Catlin, PhD , 517 WARF Building, Department of Population Health Sciences, Madison, WI
Background: Healthy People 2020 objective MICH-8 (maternal, infant, and child health) is to reduce the percentage of children born with low birth weight (LBW, <2500 grams) in the US to 7.8%. National health improvement requires measuring local progress and highlighting areas for intervention. The purpose of this study was to examine the progress of US states and counties toward achieving this national target and to identify geographic and sociodemographic characteristics associated with county-level LBW percentages.

Methods: Data are from the 2011 County Health Rankings. LBW is defined at the county and state-level. Multivariable linear regression evaluated the association between county-level sociodemographic and geographic factors with LBW.

Results: 60.0% of states and 49.7% of counties in the US have reached the Healthy People 2020 target value. 73.7% of counties that have not reached the 2020 target for LBW are located in the South. Examples of key factors associated with county-level LBW include county-level percentages of uninsured adults and children in poverty, violent crime rates, and racial characteristics.

Conclusions: While the majority of US states have LBW percentages at or below 7.8, over half of US counties need to reduce LBW percentages in order to meet the Healthy People 2020 target value. Our results highlight the need for preventive services that reduce LBW in US counties and suggest that interventions may be most effective if they account for the context within which people live.

Learning Areas:
Epidemiology
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Assess the progress of US states and counties toward achieving the Healthy People 2020 objective MICH-8 to reduce the percentage of children born with low birth weight (LBW, <2500 grams) in the US to 7.8% and identify geographic and sociodemographic characteristics associated with county-level LBW percentages.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Specific tasks under my current research positions with Dr. David A. Kindig and Dr. Whitney P. Witt include assistance with original data compilation and analysis, literature reviews, and manuscript formation. I have coauthored several abstracts for professional conferences and manuscripts that have been published in peer-reviewed journals.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 2074.0: Epidemiology of Maternal and Infant Health Poster Session